1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for extracting targets from a radar signal and a radar capable of implementing this method.
2. Summary of the Invention
The method for extracting targets according to the present invention is mainly applicable to a new type of antenna array described hereinafter. The method according to the present invention is applicable to an antenna, or to a set of antennas, comprising a plurality of antenna arrays; each array exhibits array sidelobes that may disturb the reception of signals. The array sidelobes come, for example, from the fact that sparse arrays are used. The method according to the present invention is applicable to any radar antenna comprising a plurality of antenna arrays, each array having array sidelobes oriented in fixed and/or known directions, the pointing direction of the array sidelobes being different for the various arrays.
The processing according to the present invention requires a synchronous and coherent reception by all the receiving antenna elements of the various arrays.
The processing according to the present invention comprises performing the comparison of the signals received by the various arrays. Thus it is possible to determine statistically whether an echo corresponds to a real target or to an array sidelobe. In the extraction of target information according to the present invention, no information is lost at the time of the summation of the energies from a plurality of arrays.
An object of the present invention is a method for extracting target information from a radar signal, comprising the following steps:
reception of a radar signal by a plurality of sparse antenna arrays, each array having array sidelobes fixed in azimuth; PA1 comparison of the signals received by said arrays; and PA1 decision making for the elimination of the signal or signals detected by certain arrays and absent in other arrays, these signals being capable of corresponding to array sidelobes.